Photographs from Nazi concentration camps

PHOTO: Tomasz Stefanko

PHOTO: Tomasz Stefanko

PHOTO: Tomasz Stefanko

PHOTO: Tomasz Stefanko

PHOTO: Tomasz Stefanko

PHOTO: Tomasz Stefanko

PHOTO: Tomasz Stefanko

PHOTO: Tomasz Stefanko

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Uniforms hang in a row, inviting us to picture the men, women and children who once had nothing but this thin cloth to shield them from the harsh Polish winters. After 'registration', prisoners were tattooed, stripped, deloused and shaven, while their clothes were disinfected using Zyklon B.

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A slogan above the entrance to Auschwitz reads 'Arbeit Macht Frei', or 'Labor Makes You Free'. The same message was written on the gates at Dachau, another concentration camp in Germany. Able-bodied men and women were made to toil under horrific conditions, many of them to their demise.

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There was no semblance of comfort given to the prisoners. Even during their hours of rest they were crammed together in wooden bunks like these, sometimes four to a bunk.

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Nothing seems to have gone unregulated in the concentration camps; even the most basic human functions were recorded. Prisoners were monitored when they went to the toilet, with one inmate checking how long it took them to urinate and defecate.

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These piles of suitcases, which deportees were told to take with them, serve as a symbol of the false hope offered to prisoners arriving at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Those sent to the gas chambers were kept ignorant of their fate until the last moment.

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A special SS until known as 'Wachbattalion', or 'Guard Battalion', patrolled and watched over the boundaries of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Those who did manage to escape generally did so when they were on work camps, outside the barbed wire fences - and nearby residents may have aided the cause of those who got away.

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These harmless looking, rusted tin cans were actually the delivery system of death for most of the people murdered in Auschwitz. Filled with pellets of the deadly gas Zyklon B, the canisters were transported to the camp in ambulances and then emptied into the sealed chambers, which could hold up to 1,200 people at a time.

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Although mass graves were also dug, most of the victims of Auschwitz-Birkenau ended up here, in the crematorium. Up to 10,000 men, women and children a day were murdered and disposed of at Auschwitz.

These photographs by Tomasz Stefanko (inset) offer a glimpse into the current state of the nightmarish concentration camp - deserted and silent.

Uniforms hang in a row, inviting us to picture the men, women and children who once had nothing but this thin cloth to shield them from the harsh Polish winters. After 'registration', prisoners were tattooed, stripped, deloused and shaven, while their clothes were disinfected using Zyklon B.<br><br>

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Tomasz Stefanko

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A slogan above the entrance to Auschwitz reads 'Arbeit Macht Frei', or 'Labor Makes You Free'. The same message was written on the gates at Dachau, another concentration camp in Germany. Able-bodied men and women were made to toil under horrific conditions, many of them to their demise.<br>

Syndication:

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Credit/Source:

Tomasz Stefanko

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There was no semblance of comfort given to the prisoners. Even during their hours of rest they were crammed together in wooden bunks like these, sometimes four to a bunk. <br><br>

Syndication:

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Credit/Source:

Tomasz Stefanko

Caption:

Nothing seems to have gone unregulated in the concentration camps; even the most basic human functions were recorded. Prisoners were monitored when they went to the toilet, with one inmate checking how long it took them to urinate and defecate.<br>

Syndication:

Thumb Image:

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Credit/Source:

Tomasz Stefanko

Caption:

These piles of suitcases, which deportees were told to take with them, serve as a symbol of the false hope offered to prisoners arriving at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Those sent to the gas chambers were kept ignorant of their fate until the last moment.<br>

Syndication:

Thumb Image:

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Image:

Credit/Source:

Tomasz Stefanko

Caption:

A special SS until known as 'Wachbattalion', or 'Guard Battalion', patrolled and watched over the boundaries of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Those who did manage to escape generally did so when they were on work camps, outside the barbed wire fences - and nearby residents may have aided the cause of those who got away.<br><br>

Syndication:

Thumb Image:

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Image:

Credit/Source:

Tomasz Stefanko

Caption:

These harmless looking, rusted tin cans were actually the delivery system of death for most of the people murdered in Auschwitz. Filled with pellets of the deadly gas Zyklon B, the canisters were transported to the camp in ambulances and then emptied into the sealed chambers, which could hold up to 1,200 people at a time.<br><br>

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Credit/Source:

Tomasz Stefanko

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<p>Although mass graves were also dug, most of the victims of Auschwitz-Birkenau ended up here, in the crematorium. Up to 10,000 men, women and children a day were murdered and disposed of at Auschwitz. <br><br>These photographs by Tomasz Stefanko (inset) offer a glimpse into the current state of the nightmarish concentration camp - deserted and silent. </p><p>For more of his work visit:&nbsp; https://www.facebook.com/tmstefanko<br></p>